Previously, Scientific Publications considered the features of percentile and quartile indicators in Scopus. Today we will discuss the features of these metrics in Web of Science, where the mentioned indicators are calculated based on JIF – Journal Impact Factor. How to find out the quartile of a Web of Science journal? JIF percentile and other metrics.
JIF: a unique Web of Science metric
The Journal Impact Factor is like CiteScore in Scopus. Both indicators have several derivatives, including Quartile, Percentile, Rank.
What do you need to know about the impact factor and its indicators?
- The metric is calculated by the correlation of the number of citations to the number of published articles.
- There are several types of impact factor: operational (1 year), classical (2 years), five-year, ten-year.
The impact factor is not calculated for all Web of Science journals, but only for those included in the Web of Science Core Collection: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) or Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI).
The most popular derived metric within Web of Science is the quartile.
Where can you look up the journal’s quartile?
- For this, you need to familiarise yourself with the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) indicators on a separate Web of Science platform.
- Go to the Rank tab.
As you can see, the Rank tab displays data not only on the quartile of the journal, but also on the percentile and rating in each subject area. Let us consider the features of all these indicators in more detail.
“Rank” metric: key features
Journals that belong to a certain category of sciences (for example, “Oncology”, “Haematology”) are ranked depending on the Impact Factor. A place in such a “rating” displays the “Rank” indicator. E.g., the journal occupies the 22nd rating position out of 70 in the field of “Haematology”. Based on this, the quartile and percentile indicators are calculated.
How to find out the quartile of a journal?
To find out the quartile of a journal in Web of Science, you can use a simple calculation formula based on the “Rank” indicator: you need to divide the rating of the journal by the number of journals in the category. There are 4 quartiles in total, hence:
Quartile |
Coefficient Х |
|
Q1 |
0,0 < Х ≤ 0,25 |
|
Q2 |
0,25 < Х ≤ 0,5 |
|
Q3 |
0,5 < Х ≤ 0,75 |
|
Q4 |
0,75 < Z |
For example, if a journal is ranked 22 out of 70 in a particular category:
Coefficient Х = 22/70 = 0.31 = Q2
Moreover, there is a formula to find out the percentile of the Web of Science journal.
How to calculate percentile (JIF)?
For this, it is necessary to have information about the “Rank” indicator. Use the following formula:
(Y - X + 0.5) / Y, where Y is the number of journals in a particular subject area, and X is the “Rank” indicator.
For example, if a journal is ranked 22 out of 70:
Percentile = (70 - 22 + 0.5)/70 = 0.69 or 69%
JCI as a new WoS metric
Many researchers are wondering how to choose a journal for publication if it belongs to the category of knowledge for which the impact factor is not calculated? In this case, we recommend considering indicators of other metrics, such as the Journal Citation Indicator, which is calculated for journals even those citation indexes where the impact factor is not calculated.
Furthermore, JCI also considers the normalised coefficient for each category of knowledge, which makes this metric more standardised. In addition, unlike the “classic” impact factor, this metric has a larger publication window: not 2, but 3 years. It is precisely why Impact Factor is often criticised.
The Journal Citation Indicator metric was introduced only in June 2021, but it has every chance of becoming exceedingly popular in the scientometric world, since it minimises the shortcomings of the impact factor.
Please note!
As we mentioned earlier, dishonest publishers or journals may post information about unverified metrics. Most often, such “fakes” are created specifically regarding the impact factor and quartile indicators.
The following metrics are dishonest (as modifications of the impact factor):
- Cosmos Impact Factor
- Global Impact Factor
- JPR Impact Factor
- IMPACT-FACTOR.RU
- International Impact Factor Services, etc.
Moreover, the following modifications of the quartile are “fake”:
- Tercile
- Quintile
- Decile, etc.
The presence of “fake” scientometric indicators in the journal indicates the dishonesty of this journal and is a sign of fraudulent activity!
If you need a publication in a genuinely rated journal that is indexed in the Web of Science database, contact Scientific Publications. We will select a journal, publication in which is guaranteed to contribute to the realisation of your scientific goal, as well as conduct a free audit of the article, figure out the level of necessary improvements, pay attention to the quality of academic translation and structuring, the level of uniqueness, relevance, and originality. Partnering with us is the key to a successful publication!
